Naples, Pompeii, Paestum

Last weekend was our final fieldtrip.

1) Napoli. I learned about Naples in my English class. At one time it was a destination city, but now it is run down and dirty. When we first arrived, we drove by the train station. The next block, there was a dead body covered in a white sheet. Hmm. Well, we went to a museum with artefacts from ancient times. Many statues. We saw Kouros and Doryphoros, 2 statues that show the development of controposto, or weight shift in the body. Also, a giant statue of Hercules. He must have been very strong! The ancient Romans were huge fans of Hercules, and we saw him in Paestum also. I recognized many statues of emperors from my Classics class. After the museum, we had free time for lunch. We all got pizzas, but they also served snake and turtle.

2) Pompeii. We went to see ancient Pompeii. Mount Vesuvius loomed in the background. Claudio showed us how dust normally flies away from the city, but on the fatal day that Vesuvius blew up, it was blowing towards the city. I was excited to see many things from my textbooks here. They were able to pour plaster into some of the holes in the rock and dust and found that those were organic remains. They had remains of bodies, human and dog, and some of them you could see toes or skull sticking out the ends. That was very sad. But the houses and buildings (theater, amphitheater, brothel, shops, bakery, temple, basilica, forum etc) were very cool to see. Also fascinating how much archaeologists can discover from little clues. They have not uncovered the entire city in hopes that technology will improve and they can learn more.

We stayed the night in Pompeii. The hotel fit all 70 or so of us. We had a community dinner in the hotel: penne with red sauce, veal, potatoes, bread, ice cream (they did not have any gelato in Southern Italy). Afterwards, we went for a walk down the main street of modern Pompeii. Even though I was stuffed, I needed to try the regional pastries- one looked like a shell. The outside was crunchy and buttery and the inside was very dense with little bits of fruit in it. The other looked like a cork. They poured liquid on top, and the whole thing was very wet. I asked why, and they told me it was baked with rum. Pretty good, very unusual.

3) Paestum. Mainly three Greek temples here. They looked like the Parthenon. We also went to a museum that showed us more grave goods and other artefacts found. 5 hour drive back.

Airport Fiasco

Sunday morning, we woke up at 7am to have the hotel breakfast and go to the airport. We successfully took the metro to the airport and got to the gate for our 1030 flight (planning to get back to Orvieto around 4ish). Flight delayed. Around 130, they gave everyone food vouchers. We had already eaten lunch, but were happy to have a snack. At 230, they said we could get refunds. We waited until around 3. I was getting a little irritated, because the people at the gate said they have no idea what was going on and could not tell us anything. I started asking questions and learned: they do not have any information, they do not know when the plane is coming, do not know where the plane is coming from, they are waiting for information and will tell us when they get news, but do not know where the information is coming from. They tell us that we will have to go to the ticket office if we want to know anything else or want to know about changing flights/getting a refund. Fine. We go out of security to the ticket office. They say that we need to go back to the gate for information. So, we decide to stand in line for Customer Service. When we get to the front, they tell us that we can wait, transfer to the next day or get a refund. We file the complaint for a refund. Next, we go to another airline. As I step up to talk to the lady about tickets, a woman from our flight comes over in tears. Moira talks to her as I learn that a ticket will cost 300 euro. The girl is sobbing and saying free, they change and pointing towards our old airline, Veuling. Veuling does not cancel the flight, but moves the entire plane full of people to an Iberia flight at 740. This plane leaves around 815. We catch the last shuttle to Rome (11:36), but there are no trains back to Orvieto. We wander the streets looking for hostels that Moira's mom emailed to her. We try three, all full. So we start trying random hotels. I bargained with one guy who finally accepted 50 euro for the night. We get to the room at 130. We leave the room at 6 for our 630 flight. Neither of us can stay awake on the train, so we set an alarm. We got home at 8. What a relief to be back in Orvieto!

The rain in Spain!

So, last weekend we had no field trip on Friday. My room-mate Moira and I decided to go to Madrid.

Friday: We took the train to Rome. Then the Leonardo Express to the Rome airport. Then Veuling airlines to Madrid. Then the metro to downtown Madrid near our hotel. [Arrived around 530 pm] We stayed at the Victoria 4, near the Puerta del Sol. It was very swanky. The room had a stand-up shower, unlike our apartment. Very exciting. We decided to head out to hopefully find some Tapas. The man at the front desk (who was very helpful for boarding passes, museum tickets etc) told us about the Plaza Santa Ana, where there are many restaurants with Tapas. We thanked him and headed up the street following his directions. We did not get two store fronts down before we saw a Tapas bar. We had to try it. It was delicious! We ordered some Sangria, which came with an appetizer. SO delicious. Toast with some sort of seasoned potato spread and olive oil. We next some garlic shrimp.. which came also on toast with aioli sauce. We left this place to go to Santa Ana. We got there and it was a big square with many restaurants around it. We were not impressed by any of them, so we continued wandering around the neighborhood. It started to rain, so we went into the next place we found with Tapas and ordered their specialty: Patatas Bravas. Basically gourmet french fries: potato quarters deep friend and served with Bravas sauce- spicy, orange, not exactly sure. Delicious though. We continued on our journey and stopped in one more restaurant where we tried almond, brie and chicken croquettes. They were pretty good. Our favorite place was definitely the one next to the hotel. Later, we met with Moira's Spanish friend Fernando. He and his friend showed us around a bit and brought us to a club called MOMA. It was pretty empty. They explained that no one in Spain goes out before 2am. They could not remember the last time that they were out so early. We asked to head home, and Fernando and friend went on with their night.

Saturday.. complimentary breakfast in our hotel. The bread in Spain is the best! Coffee is not as good as Italian coffee. We went to the Prado Museum for our 930 reservation. They gave us a guide to the museum which included mini pictures of all the masterpieces. It was a treasure hunt to find these, especially since the images were in no particular order. Very fun. We saw Goya, El Greco, Velasquez. After the museum, we went to the Botanical Gardens next door. More rain. Very green and beautiful. Madrid is having a photography festival, so we saw two photo exhibits- one about landscapes and taking pictures at the same place at different times to show geological/seasons changes. The other I did not understand.. very bad pictures that were pointed mostly at the ground with some of a building etc. There was a greenhouse in the gardens that housed desert, subtropical and tropical plants (all separated). Very fun to see such different climates so close together. Next we went to the Plaza Mayor. As we walked, we were rained on the whole way- a good excuse to go into shops along the way. Plaza Mayor was beautiful. Luckily, the outside is covered, so we could walk around the edges and not be in the rain. We had lunch and ordered paella and 'escalopines,' which we thought were scallops but were actually slices of meat. Didn't see that coming! But it was still tasty. Still raining. We left out a different exit and found an awesome indoor market. It was incredibly, like what I see on the Food Network. I was looking for Bobby Flay haha. They had fruits, meats, breads, sweets, seafood and take-away restaurants with tables dispersed throughout. Since we just ate, I got some fruit squares, a dulce de lece truffle and some nut/chocolate clusters. All were fantastic! And it all came in an adorable box. Next, we tried to go to the Palazo Real. It was closed. But, we went into the Cathedral next door. Very different- seemed to be ancient architecture with modern frescoes and paintings. We headed over to the Plaza d'Espagna. It seemed to be more of a business park than a traditional plaza, but there was a massive fountain which was cool. We walked back on the Gran Via (big street with shops and theaters). Continued shopping in this area. [Katia this next part is for you] then we found a giant candy store with every type of delicious Spanish gummy imaginable. We laughed, thinking about this candy as the new type of Tapas. We took the metro back to our hotel. Took a power nap and headed out for dinner. Of course we went to our favorite Tapas place from the night before. This time, they gave us a different appetizer- more toast with salame and salmon on top, also green olives. We ordered a different type of garlic shrimp- that came out steaming and sizzling. Yum! We also ordered guacamole with anchovies. It was very spicy and lemony. Delish. We bonded with the waitor by telling him that everything was the best (looking up how to say it online). Then we met a random group of Sevillians. My favorite was Jesus, an English teacher, also my new pen pal. Went back to the hotel for some rest because we had an early start to the airport the next morning.

Great weekend, despite the rain!

Long time no blog

First, updates. We lost the internet connection in my apartment, so I can only get on the internet Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Or, at an internet cafe on my ipod. I am slightly sick. Probably from my long day on Saturday (more to come). This weekend is the long weekend. So far, it is just going to be myself and Moira. We want to either go to Palermo, Sicily or Madrid, Spain.. exciting! We will decide today. Tonight we're going to Italian yoga at 10. It is going to be a blast, because we won't understand what they're saying. I'm going to look up how to say left and right before I go haha. I am updating since last Wednesday, so it will be a long one.

I just went to the grocery store and finally got brave enough to order some cheese from behind the counter. I was a bit nervous, because I do not understand the kilogram weight scale. One of my friends told me how she ordered a half kilo of cheese, which is about one pound. But, the man behind the counter understood and just asked if he should cut where the knife was. I got gorgonzola and some sort of soft white cheese.. I tried it and it seems like it will melt well. Tonight I'll be making some grilled cheese all'Orvietana with it. Yum!

Last Wednesday.. we went to Tivoli. First, we went to Hadrian's Villa. He was an emperor in the first century AD. Apparently, he was gay and this was one villa that he escaped with his lover to. He worshipped his lover like a God and even had sanctuaries for him. The coolest part was probably the Maritime Theater. It was a little area with a moat around it. So beautiful! On the island, there were baths and everything they would need to spend a weekend on it. Everything was mostly in ruins, but my classics teacher was leading the tour so he told us all the stories. It was lots of fun! After, we went to downtown Tivoli. It was not the nicest place in the world. For lunch, I had mushroom pizza. It was SO delicious! Very buttery. It was the closes thing to street food that I have found, even though it was in a building. We also got gelato here (of course). Next was Villa d'Este. It is a gorgeous Renaissance-era mansion. But the main attraction here is the fountains. There is a huge garden with magnificent fountains and pools. Unfortunately, when it was time to go check out the fountains, it started POURING! I was soaking wet (which made for a very cold and miserable bus ride home). However, the fountains that I did get to see were very cool. And the sky was gorgeous!

Thursday... last weekend was the Corpus Domini festival. It honors a man that lost his faith, but found it again when he broke his communion wafer and the blood of Christ dripped onto the tablecloth. They have processions through the street and different celebrations all weekend, including medieval costumes etc. On this night, they had 'shopping under the stars' where the stores stay open until 1am. We were shopping around, when we got to a stage area. It seemed like something was about to start. It was a Michael Jackson dance tribute show. It was so much fun to watch. My favorite were the six year olds who danced to ABC... there were five of them wearing white suits and afro wigs. I forgot my camera. Our friends showed us a new gelato place by the Duomo- best place yet! I like capriccio which is hazelnut flavor with nutella stirred in.

Friday... fieldtrip to Tarquinia. Tarquinia is a city where they have Etruscan tombs. First, we went to a park where they have the actual tombs. You walk down into these creepy tunnels. They smell exactly like the drying room at ceramics. At the bottom, there is a window into the tomb, to keep the climate controlled. It was exciting to see the same tomb paintings that are in my textbook! They seemed much smaller than in the book. Next, we chose whether we wanted to go straight to the beach or to a museum then the beach. I chose the museum. Claudio showed us around and there were grave goods from the tombs we had just seen. Pottery, jewelry, statues, etc. Also many Etruscan sarcophagi (which means flesh eater), they are coffins with an statue of the person buried within reclining on top. We then went down to the beach and ate at 'Happy Days.' It looked better than 'Snoopy's Island.' They offered us ristorante or pizzeria. The ristorante did not have a menu, so we chose pizzeria. After my margherita pizza, I had a cafe freddo which was basically a coffee milkshake in an espresso cup. It was delicious! They had the most amazing beach chairs- they had screens that pull down over your face to shade it from the sun. We wanted to see midieval dancing when we got back, but could not find it. Darn.

Saturday... Florence! We took the train up to Firenze for the day. I went with a girl that I know from Blue Chip and her friend (the other 4 people were no-shows). We had a great day. First thing we did was look for a cafeteria (for coffee) I ordered an espresso and a ciambelle (donut). When the guy was handing me my pastry, he handed it to me under the glass, where I couldn't reach it. I still tried to grab it and was just scratching at the glass. He was looking at me like 'hello, stupid tourist, please take your donut' and when he realized what was going on, we both roared laughing haha. So funny. First, we went to the Duomo. The church part was not open yet, but we went to climb Brunelleschi's dome (436 steps). It was unbelievable, like the Sistine Chapel but painted on the dome at St Pietro. We climbed to the first level to see the interior painting. Then we climbed more steps to go on top of the dome for a panoramic view of the city. Gorgeous! The steps were crazy though.. some of them were small spiral staircases, some were almost vertical. I was ducking my head the whole time. We then shopped around. I'll show you what I got when I get back. We walked around to see the sights for the rest of the day. On the way back to the train station, we realized that we were cutting it close. We started running through the streets. The other girls were surprised at my saavy at crossing streets... said I was pulling James Bond maneuvers ha. One of the girls got tangled in her purse and heard someone say "she looks like she's going to puke," because she was so confused. I am uncontrollably laughing just thinking about it. No one in the computer lab seems to mind. Anyway, we made it on the train with a few minutes to spare, luckily we had already validated our tickets. Took a bus back to the top part of Orvieto.

When I got there (around 10:30), my roommates were all waiting for me. I had told them that I'd be back around 830ish, that was my best guess. We had talked about going out together to see the night life. I figured they would have left without me. No, they were waiting. They even called Alba to get the phone number of one of the girls I was with oops. So, I hurried up to get ready and we went for it. I had the best time trying out my Italian on people at the bar. One guy said "You teach me English, I teach you Italian." Perfect! It was fun, because everyone was on about the same level in the other person's language. I met the owner of the bar, who was very nice and said that I could work there. Good to know that if I happen miss my flight back, I have a job here.

Sunday.. since I had been awake from 630am to 230ish am the night before, I allowed myself to sleep in til 1130. Finally. We looked around for midieval archery, but never found it. We did find cheese making though. They were pretty much done making a fresh batch of ricotta cheese, the mideval way. Interesting.

Today.. finished up my analysis of my book for class.

Thanks for reading!